FOR INFORMATION:
\nKatie Quine
\nMarketing and Communications Manager
\nThe Riley Institute at Furman University
\n864.294.3368; katie.quine@furman.edu<\/p>\n
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:<\/p>\n
NATIONAL ELECTION EXPERTS TO SPEAK DURING VIRTUAL SERIES PRESENTED BY THE RILEY INSTITUTE AND OLLI AT FURMAN WITH SOUTH CAROLINA ETV<\/strong> GREENVILLE, S.C.\u2014Robert Costa, moderator for PBS\u2019s Washington Week<\/em>; Allison Riggs, interim director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice; and Don Gonyea, national political correspondent for NPR, are among more than a dozen notable election and voting rights experts who will appear on StraightTalk: Voting in America<\/em> beginning September 1.<\/p>\n The 10th annual StraightTalk series, presented by Furman University\u2019s Riley Institute and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in partnership with South Carolina ETV, will be held virtually for the first time. As it does each year, the series delves deep into big issues facing the nation and South Carolina.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we approach the 2020 presidential election, many Americans doubt our ability to hold fair and free elections, which is a cornerstone of our democracy,\u201d Jill Fuson, director of the Riley Institute\u2019s Center for Critical Issues, says. \u201cThat lack of faith, coupled with controversies over mail-in voting, voter fraud, voter suppression, and gerrymandering, makes the question of how we vote and how we count our ballots of critical importance, exacerbated even more due to COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking place the first three Tuesdays in September at 6:30 p.m., the program kicks off on September 1 with its first session, \u201cLurching Forward: 244 Years of Fighting for the Right to Vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaker Michael Waldman, along with veteran broadcast journalist Beryl Dakers and visiting professors Chryl Laird and Kelly Dittmar, will explore how the United States\u2019 history of disfranchisement continues to influence today\u2019s voting behaviors.<\/p>\n September 8, \u201cThe Dark Arts of Politics: When Politicians Choose the Voters\u201d features voting rights attorney Allison Riggs and NPR\u2019s Don Gonyea. It will add the perspectives of S.C. Reps. Gary Clary (R-Pickens) and Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D-Orangeburg) regarding gerrymandering, voter and election fraud, and voter suppression.<\/p>\n September 15, \u201cDemocracy at Risk: Safeguarding Votes, Voters and Election Integrity\u201d takes on concerns regarding voting in the midst of a pandemic. Speakers are PBS\u2019s Robert Costa, Indiana University president Michael McRobbie who co-chairs the Committee on the Future of Voting, election law expert Ned Foley, and David Levine of the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Teresa Nesbitt Cosby, an associate professor of political science at Furman, will moderate the discussion.<\/p>\n All sessions are free and open to the public. For a detailed schedule of events and to register, visit www.furman.edu\/straight-talk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Robert Costa, moderator for PBS\u2019s Washington Week; Allison Riggs, interim director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice; and Don Gonyea, national political correspondent for NPR, are among more than a dozen notable election and voting rights experts who will appear on StraightTalk: Voting in America beginning September 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","update-categories":[18],"class_list":["post-412","furman-update","type-furman-update","status-publish","hentry","furman-update-category-news-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/furman-update"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"furman-update-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update-categories?post=412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nStraightTalk: Voting in America kicks off Tuesday, September 1<\/em><\/p>\n